Cold weather - what are you doing?

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SDRB_TP

SDRB_TP

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Helloooo,

As the cold weather is starting to kick in, just thought I'd start a thread (however, there probably is one already!) about what you are doing to keep your piggie-winks warm!

Me? Well, unfortunately my girlies live outside in a shed, with a hutch inside. I ram it full with hay, and have a heat pad in aswell. I also have cuddely beds & hidey houses dotted around to try and keep them sheltered and keep their heat in.
Not a lot, but hopefully it's enough.

So, drop us a comment! I'd love to hear some more ideas about how to keep the little baba's warm :-)
xx
 
The boys live in our garden room, we ram there hutch with hay too:)) But they snuggle up to each other when they're cold so their body warmth helps too!
I also put piles of blankets on the hutch to insulate the heat which seems to work.

Our two girls live indoors so they have the luxury of the central heating!;)
 
Two of my boys live indoor but on fleece (due to allergies) with just little hidey houses and a new snuggly house thing, and my other boy lives in a cage with an igloo and lots of hay as he's on sawdust i don't mind giving him extra for bedding, i just hate how it gets on the fleece !
Bought to snuggle safe heat pads but in need of covers before i can use them :)
 
I have outdoor piggies, their double hutch is covered with thick layer of carpet all the way around, lots of hay inside, they have a plastic bed with a thick fleece snuggle sack inside, a heat pad under the bed and a fleece blanket folded up rreally thick wrapped over the bed. so snug in there, i stick my hand in to check on their heat as often as possible.
they come out n potter about so I'm guessin they are warm enough!
 
Majority are in a shed with a oil filled heater... And dehumidifier...
4 rabbits outside in hutches... With heat pads... And lodes of hay... Etc...
And one rabbit inside...
And one rabbit in the vets for the foreseeable future...
x
 
Mine are inside but they have extra snuggly beds and heat pads. And I dont let the house get cold. This may sound a little OTT for indoor piggies but one is a skinny so needs the extra heat.
x
 
Nibbles and Nutty are in our living room anyway but I bring Bingo and Buddy in from our drafty utility room over night. I can't bear the idea of them being cold.

Amy
x
 
Mine are in a heated shed which my husband swears is warmer than our house (he's probably right!)..they also have two heatpads and loads of hay and fleece in their hideys....xx>>>
 
I have been wanting to address this as well, so thank you. My girls are in our TV room right next to the kitchen. I keep a thermometer on the outside of their c & c cage. The temperature was getting down to 59 F/l5 C at night (when we turned the heat down) and not as warm as the kitchen during the day. I was afraid this was too cold so I bought a oil filled heater for them. I was turning it on 24/7 but got the first months bill and decided to turn it on only at night. They are on fleece with a couple of litter boxes. I put extra layers of fleece in their houses. Am I being too cautious?
 
Gosh, they all sound so lucky! :') Glad to hear they're all being kept warm.
x

twiams said:
Bought to snuggle safe heat pads but in need of covers before i can use them :)
Click to expand...
Well, I've got one that came with it, but I've also got an old towel and folded it in half, then sowed it either side but left one side open, and luck has it it fits perfectly, so I just slid it right in (which acts as a back-up if the other has wee on it)! :-)

However, this site has the loveliest heat pad covers, a little pricey, but I've bought from the site before and she's great!
Also, this is one I've found on ebay - the same design as mine, but my fastening is a little better.
x
 
Delaine said:
Am I being too cautious?
Click to expand...

Well, obviously I can't say as I've never actually been in the room, but just bare in mind that yes, Guinea Pig's aren't that good in the cold, but from what I've heard, they are even worse in a temperature that is consistently changing (so make sure you aren't changing the heating constantly up and down as their little bodies won't be able to adapt, and could come off much worse than being cold).
Bare in mind that by being inside they are already much warmer than they would be outside, so just think less is more (i.e a heat pad and making the heating a little warmer than outside should be enough, however add more if you need to - depending on how cold it is)

At the end of the day, you are the judge! If you have any questions, try and find an experienced rescue centre to speak to, as I'm sure they've gone through their fair share of winters and keeping all their piggies toasty warm.
x
 
To: SDRB TP

The room never gets any colder than 59 deg. F/15 deg. C at night (without extra heater) and usually stay about 63 deg. F during the day (without heater). I am trying to keep it a constant 63 - 65 deg. all the time by adding the heater. It really doesn't fluctuate much, but that is a really good point. We sit in this room every night and watch TV with them. My husband thinks I am paranoid about the temperature, but I read somewhere you should keep them at a temperature of between 65 - 75 deg. F. I am sure a lot of piggies kept outside aren't kept this warm.
 
Mine are indoors and part of their cage is next to a radiator, so they are warm most of the time. I do have a heat pad for them but have never had to use it so far as I don't think its been cold enough.
They are on fleece and have plenty of beds and tunnels to snuggle in.
 
Delaine said:
To: SDRB TP

The room never gets any colder than 59 deg. F/15 deg. C at night (without extra heater) and usually stay about 63 deg. F during the day (without heater). I am trying to keep it a constant 63 - 65 deg. all the time by adding the heater. It really doesn't fluctuate much, but that is a really good point. We sit in this room every night and watch TV with them. My husband thinks I am paranoid about the temperature, but I read somewhere you should keep them at a temperature of between 65 - 75 deg. F. I am sure a lot of piggies kept outside aren't kept this warm.
Click to expand...

That sounds good... and yeah, mine aren't kept at 15 degrees, but it can't be helped I'm afraid.
Well, don't believe everything you read anyway! People on the internet could right anything they want - it doesn't mean it's right. I use a book by an experience GP owner, it's quite good for some tips and tricks. :-)
 
My beasties live in hutches with loads of hay in an insulated shed with heating so they're lovely and toastie. ;)
 
Just bumping this up for all slaves to outdoors piggies as it's freezing outside!
 
My girlies are indoor but There room is north facing and once the central heating goes off (when it works!) it can get chilly so I put a heat pad in and then another in the morning when I go out to work so trying to keep a equilibrium.

Buttercup suffers from fluctuations in temp and quickly gets the snuffles...so I no longer treat her with medicine...lots of fav fluid and a slight increase in temp and she's back to norm.

I think the key is being prepared for bad weather, stocking up on plenty of bedding and food in case you can't get out due to weather...sorry going off topic here a bit. Mind you there's plenty of experienced owners here probably doing the same as me.

Keep toasted peeps!
 
I have spent a lot of time researching, pondering, worrying and thinking about my pigs. I inherited them and they had always been kept outside. I didn't want to bring them in if they're used to the cold and also we don't have the space. I have to say, my pigs are very happy outside. They are in a very sheltered spot, they have a LOT of hay, fleece blankets and a heat pad, plus I line the hutch with thick cardboard and loads of newspaper and sawdust. I worry about them at night but whenever I pop out to see them, not only are they asleep in the OPEN area of the hutch, but also toasty warm to hold. I put them in their run every day and yesterday the ground was frosty, but did they run into their snuggle sacks or hidey holes? no they are running around happy as larry. I realise that we domesticate these animals, and they are bred here so used to our climate, but they grow a thick winter coat because they are from a place with extremely cold temperatures and their bodies are designed to cope with the cold. Too warm does them more harm than too cold. We have had them as pets for too short a time for them to have evolved as a species to be kept too warm.
 
Good thread, may give others some ideas on how to keep their piggies warm...

Mine are all indoor pigs and have their usual bedding as well as fleece, fleece-lined beds, extra extra hay to hide in, the central heating is on (for us too xx>>>) and if it's still cold in here, they have their microwave heatpads as well :))

We also leave the oven door open after cooking to get some extra heat in the room (kitchen + living room in one) if its REALLY cold in here!
 
libertychance said:
I realise that we domesticate these animals, and they are bred here so used to our climate, but they grow a thick winter coat because they are from a place with extremely cold temperatures and their bodies are designed to cope with the cold. Too warm does them more harm than too cold. We have had them as pets for too short a time for them to have evolved as a species to be kept too warm.
Click to expand...

I think you'll find they don't grow a winter coat, they are not like cats, dogs and horses and their coat stays consistent throughout the year, some just have thicker coats than others and some just shed more than others but they don't moult per se either.

They also come from a fairly stable climate without excesses of temperature either way, their 'home' climate is also not humid like ours which also causes guineas problems with their skin, respiratory systems etc. If and when the temperatures do drop they live underground in burrows (stolen from others I believe!).

I do agree completely that we do tend to 'humanise' animals from time to time but my own experience is that if they do experience sudden changes in temperature then they are very susceptible to problems, keeping things consistent is the key I believe :)) (just my humble opinion)
 
I was thinking of moving mine into the house too (from the garage) but I decided against it as I'm sure I read that sudden changes in temp is not good for them so bringing them into a heated house after being out in this cold would be too much of a shock to the system??

Instead I have just made sure they are as warm as pos outside.

:)
 
My boys are in a hutch inside our unused garage. They have tonnes of hay in their bedroom, a couple of cardboard boxes to snuggle into and as of last night a snugglesafe heatpad. They also have 3 blankets over their hutch to stop any draughts.

As this is my first winter with them (they're 3 but new to me) I've been monitroing the temeperature in the garage and inside their bedroom, using a digital garden thermometer (sad I know!) just ot give myself peace of mind. Last night it was -3 outside, 4.7 inside the garage and 6.9 inside their bedroom. I feel happier knowing that they're not freezing their poor little tootsies off.

I do bring the boys in for an hour or so into our coolish kitchen whilst I clean their hutch out, they enjoy exploring and I feel better knowing they are in a slightly warmer environment for a while.

May or may not be the right thing to do?
 
McMac lives in the garage which luckily has a radiator in. It can get a little nippy with the garage door though so I make sure I fill his hidey house with hay and stuff for him to snuggle into :)

My rabbit lives outside alone so I have to use heat pads, loooots of straw, 2 layers of towel over the mesh and a tarpaulin
 
*becks* said:
I was thinking of moving mine into the house too (from the garage) but I decided against it as I'm sure I read that sudden changes in temp is not good for them so bringing them into a heated house after being out in this cold would be too much of a shock to the system??

Instead I have just made sure they are as warm as pos outside.

:)
Click to expand...

yea ive tried to avoid it, my house is cold though as I'm tight with the heating!
it should be warmer in the garage then outside surely? is your water bottle frozen? if its fine it should be fine for them in there

my bottles been frozen outside all day, i dont get alot of sun in the garden!
 
Hi Becks

Yes you are probably doing the right thing. With some heatpads, blankets and plenty of hay to snuggle into and to keep them cozy they should be fine. Do you know the temperature difference between the two? Thats the main thing to consider.

Hopefully it'll start warming up soon and we can all stop worrying about them! 8;)
 
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